CDS GEN BIPIN RAWAT AMONG 13 DEAD AS IAF CHOPPER CRASHES IN TAMIL NADU

Gen Bipin Rawat, India's first Chief of Defence Staff, his wife and 11 other armed forces personnel died on Wednesday after the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.

"With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident," IAF tweeted.

"Gp Capt Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington," it added.

The copter was being flown by Wing Cdr PS Chauhan and Sqn Ldr K Singh. Along with General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder, Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender Kumar, Naik Vivek Kumar, Naik B Sai Teja, Havaldar Satpal and pilots were travelling in the chopper.

The helicopter was on its way from Sulur in Coimbatore to Defence Staff College in Wellington where Rawat, along with Chief of Army Staff MM Naravane, was slated to participate in an event later.

The chopper crashed in a forest area, reportedly due to poor visibility following heavy fog.

Sheer disbelief that gripped the eyewitnesses when they saw a frightening bright blaze emerging from the misty woods amid clanking of metal objects. Though it was a little past noon, fog still shrouded the hills on Wednesday.

The tea workers in the vicinity could not comprehend what was unfolding – they could not get very close as the fire raged destroying all that it could in the wooded vicinity.

NATION HAS LOST ONE OF ITS BRAVEST SONS: PRESIDENT

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, PM Narendra Modi and leaders across the political spectrum condoled the demise of General Bipin Rawat.

President Kovind tweeted: “The nation has lost one of its bravest sons. His four decades of selfless service to the motherland was marked by exceptional gallantry and heroism.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was deeply anguished by the helicopter crash in which “we have lost General Bipin Rawat, his wife and other personnel of the armed forces. They served India with utmost diligence.” He hailed the General as an “outstanding soldier” and a “true patriot.”

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi called the crash “an unprecedented tragedy.”

Home Minister Amit Shah said Gen Rawat’s “exemplary contribution & commitment cannot be put into words.”

CENTRE AGREES TO WITHDRAW CASES, FARM STIR SET TO BE CALLED OFF TODAY

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) will meet again today at the Singhu border of Delhi to take a “formal decision” to lift the year-long protest against the farm laws after the 32 unions under its ambit accepted a revised draft proposal from the Govt, including the unconditional withdrawal of all police cases lodged against protesters during the agitation.

In the revised proposal Wednesday, the Govt said that in light of the concessions proposed, there was no justification for the agitation to continue and requested the unions to call it off. Following a meeting of farm unions, the SKM said that if it receives a formal communication from the Govt authorising its demands by Thursday noon, it is likely that the “agitation would be called off or temporarily suspended”.

According to the amended proposal, the Centre will also appeal to other states to withdraw all cases lodged against protesters during the agitation. Ther govts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana — all BJP-ruled states — have reportedly agreed to simultaneously withdraw all cases lodged against the protesters with immediate effect.

On the issue of a proposed committee for minimum support price (MSP), farm leaders said the Govt has clarified that it will include representatives from SKM, too.

RBI KEEPS LENDING RATE UNCHANGED, TO CONTINUE WITH ACCOMMODATIVE MONETARY POLICY

The RBI decided to keep the benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4 per cent for the ninth time in a row and maintain the accommodative policy stance in view of the lingering impact of the Covid.

Announcing the decision of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), apex bank chief Shaktikanta Das said there was unanimity on keeping the repo rate unchanged, and the decision to maintain an accommodative policy stance was approved by a majority of 5-1.

Though several high domestic performance indicators had shown promise, the main risk was from the “accentuation of headwinds emanating from global developments,” said Das.

“The Indian economy is relatively well-positioned on the path of recovery, but it cannot be immune to global spillovers or to possible surges of infections from new mutations including the omicron variant. Hence, fortifying our macroeconomic fundamentals, making our financial markets and institutions resilient and sound, and putting in place credible and consistent policies will assume the highest priority in these uncertain times,” said the RBI chief.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST 9/Dec

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Wednesday 9,342

Active Cases 94,742 (+1,009)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 4,74,111 (82)

Total Vaccination: 130.39 Crores (+80,86,910)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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PENG SHUAI CASE, DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTTS TEST IOC BEFORE BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS

The president of the International Olympic Committee did his best to stay neutral Wednesday as Canada, Britain and Australia followed the United States in announcing diplomatic boycotts of the Winter Games in Beijing.

Thomas Bach, who has led the body through a series of problematic Olympic preparations since taking over in 2013, tried to spin the diplomatic snub into a positive by noting each country is allowing its athletes and teams to compete in Beijing. “We have our full focus on the athletes,” Bach said in an online news conference. “We welcome that they can participate, that they are supported by their national govts. The rest is politics.”

Bach also praised himself for his video calls with tennis player Peng Shuai, a former Olympian from China who has mostly disappeared from public view since accusing a former top Communist Party official of sexually assaulting her.

The Beijing Games are set to open on Feb. 4. The western allies announcing diplomatic boycotts are acting against China because of long-standing concerns about the country’s human rights record, including the treatment of its Muslim minority Uyghur people. Many have called it genocide.

OMICRON COULD SPREAD FASTER, ITS SEVERITY STILL NOT CERTAIN, SAYS WHO

The WHO says early evidence suggests the omicron variant may be spreading faster than the highly transmissible delta variant but brings with it less severe coronavirus disease - though it's too early to make firm conclusions.

Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO's chief of emergencies, told reporters Wednesday that data about the omicron variant so far is pointing to a virus that's efficiently transmitting and probably more efficiently transmitting than even the delta variant, which is by far the most widespread and deadly version.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for COVID-19 at the U.N. health agency, cautioned that it was too early to determine the severity of disease caused by omicron, saying there's only anecdotal information about that for now.

Meanwhile, WHO officials stuck to their stance that giving booster shots to people who are already vaccinated should be a secondary priority to getting first doses into the arms of people in places that have relatively little vaccination coverage.

THE REST

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Mi17V5 IS ADVANCED TRANSPORT HELICOPTER WITH IAF SINCE 2012

The Mi17V5 helicopter, which crashed with CDS Bipin Rawat and 13 other people onboard on Wednesday, is an advanced military transport chopper that has been with the IAF since 2012.

Manufactured by Russian Helicopters’ subsidiary Kazan, the helicopter has an onboard weather radar and is equipped with the latest generation of night vision devices.

It also has the new PKV-8 autopilot system and a KNEI-8 avionics suite. It can carry a maximum take off weight of 13,000 kg and maximum payload weight of 4,000 kg.

The helicopter is fitted with a self-defence system against heat seeker missiles, heavily-armoured cockpit, vital systems and components.

It is the most technically advanced helicopter of Mi-8/17 family of helicopters, and incorporates the best engineering solutions from previous generations of helicopters.

MPs ACROSS PARTY LINES JOIN DEMAND FOR NJAC BILL REVIVAL

In full-throated resurrrection of the demand for the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, members of the Lok Sabha cutting across party lines demanded replacement of collegium system where judiciary has a monopoly over appointments to high courts and the Supreme Court.

Members of political parties, while participating in a debate on The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Codnditions of Services) Amendment Bill, 2021, said the current scheme for the appointment of members of higher judiciary needed to be changed as it lacked transparency and accountability.

Amid cross-party demand for the govt to bring back the NJAC bill, Union law and justice minister Kiren Rijiju told the House he is in receipt of written statements by former judges of the Supreme Court and members of the Supreme Court Bar Association that the present collegium system for appointment of judges is “not right, not transparent, not accountable, and that it does not justify the intention with which it was provisioned in the Constitution”.

TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee, RSP’s N K Premachandran, and BJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtab, among others, argued that the govt must take a considered decision on filling up vacancies in courts, and fixing a system of appointment of judges. Premachandran said the earlier NJAC law passed by Parliament was a “wonderful legislation that the Parliament had passed” and said the “entire House will support it”, if the govt reintroduces the bill.

PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA RELEASES 'WOMEN'S MANIFESTO' IN LUCKNOW

Ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Congress General secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra rolled out 'women's manifesto' with a bunch of promises.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "Women empowerment is possible only when women get equal rights and get respect. Congress is committed to give equal rights and respect to women power."

While reading out the manifesto, she said, "Will make education accessible to daughters by giving them smartphones and electronic scooters on an educational basis. Congress will fulfill the promise made with daughters. Congress will make the education of daughters accessible."

The Congress leader said, "We prepared 'women manifesto' where we want to say we actually want to empower them. We will have to create an environment where shackles can be broken with their opinion, where they get full participation in politics and participation in society that ends their exploitation."

"We gave 40 per cent representation to women (for Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls) so that their empowerment doesn't remain confined to paper. When women will truly be a part of politics, then it will be translated not on paper but also in reality," she said.

NO COERCIVE ACTION AGAINST DIGITAL MEDIA WITHOUT OUR APPROVAL, SAYS MADRAS HC

The Madras High Court Monday asked the central govt not to take any coercive action against digital media companies that are members of Indian Broadcasters and Digital Media Foundation, under key provisions of the new IT Rules, 2021, without seeking its permission.

Hearing a plea filed by the Foundation, a two judge-bench of Acting Chief Justice, Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari, and Justice P D Audikesavalu said the Centre is “restrained from taking any coercive action against the petitioners without seeking permission of the Court”. The case will be next heard on January 25, 2022.

In June, the Digital News Publishers Association — a 13-member collective of the country’s biggest news media companies — had approached the Madras HC challenging the Constitutional validity of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

During the first hearing on the case, a bench of then Chief Justice of the Madras HC Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had recorded the petitioners’ submission that there was “sufficient basis for…apprehension that coercive and arm-twisting action may be taken”.

In September, during a hearing, the HC stayed the operation of a key provision of IT Rules, 2021, that set up an oversight mechanism by the Centre to regulate social media and digital media platforms. “Prima facie, there is substance to the petitioner’s grievance that the oversight mechanism to control the media by the Govt may rob the media of its independence…” the bench had noted.

TEST PASSENGERS FROM 'AT RISK' NATIONS ON 8TH DAY, STATES TOLD

With the rapid spread of Omicron variant of Covid-19, the Centre on Wednesday sent a fourth letter to states, asking them to speed up the delivery of samples of positive cases from international travellers and their contacts and samples from emerging hotspots to national genome sequencing laboratories.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a letter to additional chief secretaries and principal secretaries, health, of states and UTs, also asked for community surveillance of all international passengers from at risk nations at least until the eighth day of entry into India, even if they test negative upon arrival.

“All international passengers who have arrived in the community need to be monitored by the district surveillance team and their testing done on the eighth day if they have come from at-risk nations,” the letter to states and UTs, says.

The health secretary also asked for unusual events, like new clusters, to be tracked along with vaccination breakthroughs and re-infections. All Omicron positive cases to be treated in designated Covid care facilities with separate isolation areas and to ensure that cross-infections do not happen, Bhushan said.

CABINET OKAYS KEN-BETWA RIVER INTERLINKING PROJECT

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the funding and implementation of the Rs 44,605 crore Ken-Betwa interlinking of rivers project, which will address the problem of water scarcity in Bundelkhand region spanning across Madhya Pradesh and poll-bound UP.

The Cabinet approved central support of Rs 39,317 crore for the project, covering a grant of Rs 36,290 crore and a loan of Rs 3,027 crore.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said: “This will pave the way for more such projects for interlinking of rivers in India and showcase to the world our ingenuity and vision.”

The project involves the transfer of water from the Ken to the Betwa river through the construction of Daudhan dam (Lower Orr project, Kotha Barrage) and a canal linking the two rivers (Bina Complex multipurpose project). It will ensure an annual irrigation of over 10.62 lakh hectares, drinking water supply to a population of about 62 lakh and also generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power.

The project is proposed to be implemented in eight years. It will be of immense benefit to the water starved Bundelkhand region, spread across the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It will benefit the districts of Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen in MP and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur in UP.

‘I SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ON (THAT) BENCH’: JUSTICE GOGOI

More than two-and-a-half years after he was exonerated by an in-house panel of sexual harassment charges leveled by a Supreme Court employee, former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday admitted that it was a mistake on his part to be on the Bench in the case.

"In hindsight, I should not have been a judge on the Bench. It might have been better if I was not part of the bench. We all make mistakes. No harm in accepting it," Justice Gogoi told India Today TV after being asked if it was wrong for him to be a part of the Bench which took up the matter regarding allegations of sexual harassment against him.

KOHLI REMOVED FROM ODI CAPTAINCY AS ROHIT BECOMES NEW WHITE-BALL CAPTAIN

Virat Kohli was on Wednesday removed as India’s ODI captain with the national selection committee making Rohit Sharma the sole white-ball leader of the team till the 2023 50-over World Cup.

In another significant development, Ajinkya Rahane was removed from Test vice-captaincy, a position which was also given to Rohit.

The BCCI announced the 18-member squad for the three Test series which doesn’t include all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, spinner Axar Patel, and opener Shubman Gill due to various injuries.

Squad: Virat Kohli (Capt),Rohit Sharma(vc), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(wk), Wriddhiman Saha(wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.

ASHES GETS UNDERWAY: DREAM DAY ONE FOR AUSSIES

Pat Cummins took a five-wicket haul in a dream start to his Australia captaincy as England were skittled for 147 before tea at the Gabba on a rain-hit opening day of the Ashes.

Australia’s first fast-bowling skipper in 65 years, Cummins shone on a golden day for the home side which began with Mitchell Starc removing Rory Burns on the very first ball and ended early with a storm and bad light.

The rain capped a gloomy day for England at the Gabba, their traditional house of pain, but they may end up praying for more of it to avert defeat.

Their sole win today was when skipper Joe Root called the toss correctly but his choice to bat first on a grassy wicket soon appeared dicey on a muggy, overcast morning.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence. - Robert Frost

OFF TRACK

A guy bought his wife a beautiful diamond necklace for their anniversary. A friend of his said, "I thought she wanted one of those sporty 4-Wheel drive vehicles." 

"She did," he replied. "But where in the heck was I gonna find a fake Jeep?"